PMD — Awakening

After the collaborative album with Japanese producer DJ Honda released the year before, PMD returns to release a solo project seven years after the last time. The production features beats from PMD himself, 7L, DJ Muggs, Pete Rock, Alchemist, DJ Honda, EPMD, KutMasta Kurt, Ghetto Professionals, Raheem Soto, Dre Meezy, Track Addicts and Ground Work. Guests are Erick Sermon, Cypress Hill, Fat Joe, K-Solo, Rob Jackson, 275, J-Boogie, Don Fu-Quan, Drayz, Feever and Rah.

A musically beautiful intro opens, with a musical background provided by PMD himself together with 7L: a gospel choir accompanies a piano in these first minutes, together with lively drums,  the sample comes from "Loneliness", songs from the late seventies by the Polish prog rock group SBB aka Silesian Blues Band. Great rhythm while the author introduces the record. The Brentwood artist self-produces the next track, crafting a solid beat to support his braggadocio bars: deep bassline, dry drum, good piano, sample taken from "20 Bag Shorty", a Jay-Z track that I wasn't aware existed. The guy rocks loose rapping over good twangy production.

"87' to the Present" is another bravado cut that however aims a little more at club and radio: PMD sounds better on this album than on his previous solo efforts, he seems to have really woken up, Ghetto Professionals production tries to put it in the club with this funky bass and these light-hearted party sounds from "Heaven is Here to Guide Us" by 8th Day, together with hangover drums. An interlude follows on a dull rhythm by Raheem Soto, this guy does a really nice job of setting the mood, it looks like it just finished raining hard and it's still raining, the drums are wet, synth lines are wet, interesting effort behind the keyboards, shame it's used for a skit when it also deserved someone to spit something on it.

At the title track, well, everyone knows you have to put a big man behind the keyboards for your title track. And he comes directly from Beverly Hills, after having been part of a hip-hop group together with James Caan's son. If you're wondering who he's James Caan, perhaps the name Sonny Corleone might be more familiar, and there's no explaining PMD's connection to the Godfather, which is also honored several times in the titles of the discography created together with Sermon ("It's Strictly Business", "Business Never Personal"...). The backdrop of the beat of Alchemist is full of synths taken from the main title of a British gangster film from the early eighties, "The Long Good Friday": the drum almost drowns in it, the violin loop struggles to emerge, PMD spits bars with good flow, but it's not exactly rewarded by the mixing and sounds almost overwhelmed by the production, who's definitely not in the Alchemist elite.

DJ Honda, with whom Smith made his previous album, comes by placing a couple more beats on this project. The first is for the posse "Know What I Mean", created together with Smith's friends who come from all over the States: these guys sound great over a bouncy beat from DJ Honda, with a slightly mitigated funky bass in the background, snappy and skeletal drum that sounds a little southern and tense, meandering strings trying to force their way into the rhythm. The song is already present in "Underground Connection", the collaborative CD between Honda and PMD released the year before.

Parrish remains soloist for "Hip Hop 101", second and unfortunately last production by DJ Honda on this album. It starts with a naughty string loop, PMD warms up, then a bass falls from the sky and it's a bass that's familiar to me for some reason, I don't know why. It leaves, some scratches arrive, then the bass returns and continues to sound familiar, for some reason I know this line. After fifteen seconds, the sample drops, and it's illuminating, it's a wonderful choice from a fantastic song: “Giving Up”, a rare hit by Bayonne, New Jersey soul group The Ad Libs.

Sublime choice, but now I don't know where I've heard the sample before. It could be a self-titled cut where RA the Rugged Man flies on a Preservation production for a Dreddy Kruger album, a guy who convinced RZA to place the Wu-Tang Clan symbol in one of his compilations which is still seen as (one of) the best thing Wu put out after their second album. But it isn't. I'm sure I heard that sample in a track by an Italian rapper, but I still don't know who, finding him after a few minutes. I'm starting to think that few Italian hip-hop producers can make such a choice and the second one I'm betting on is Don Joe. Searching on Google without any other clues for "club dogo giving up" comes up with a track by the group called "Givin Up", which isn't on any of their albums. The lyrics, however, are those of "Cronache di Resistenza", from "Mi Fist" (2003). In fact, Don Joe sampled the cover of "Giving Up" sung by Gladys Knight in 1970. Returning to DJ Honda's song, the producer cleans the sample from the vinyl sound, but he keeps that earthy bass that still kicks up too much dust to make the beat clear: on this raw musical carpet, PMD sounds at his best in career, focused, fluid, fit, and delivers one of his best cuts ever. Both tunes by DJ Honda are actually not new, having been released on his 2001 album "HIII" (also known as "h iii", "H III" or simply "III") for the Japanese market.

“Still a Costumer” features a sizzling production conceived by Dre Meezy with co-production by PMD. The author spits bars along with the duo from Dayton, Ohio, 275. There's an acceptable bass and good samples, the cut is evidently intended for the club and unfortunately isn't memorable, pointing out how the hooks are one of the weak points of this Parrish project. Producer KutMasta Kurt makes the beat for "Straight from da Heart": the musical carpet created by the boy is solid, cinematic, a little cartoonish, it sounds different from all other rhythms. PMD sounds more inspired than usual on this uptempo and urgent solution, and the hook is supported by some cool scratches. The song is selected as the project's second single, with "Next Chapter" as its b-side: Track Addicts produces this piece, uptempo rhythm, sparse drums, tense strings, sample from Deniece Williams' "Strangers". Inside are Drayz, Don Fu-Quan and PMD, they don't disappoint, but I think some level emcee could have killed this beat too, which leaves a bit of a bad taste in the mouth.

An interlude precedes "Champions": DJ Muggs on the beat, at the mic Cypress Hill are credited with lending a hand to Smith. The loop invented by Muggs is simple, clean, effective, he provides one of the best beats on this album and also in PMD's solo discography. The guy from Brentwood doesn't seem convinced, but B-Real goes in hardcore and rips the cut, making the track worth listening to, because the EPMD half seemed a little off-beat and out of phase for some reason. Actually the track is borrowed from "Tequila Sunrise EP", an extended play released by Cypress Hill in 1998.

Another interlude, the second in three tracks, then the album runs without problems until the end. "Look at U Now" is a track featuring EPMD aka Parrish Smith and Erick Sermon, and is released as the third single from the CD. The production is a bit disappointing from EPMD, but maybe it's just me who was expecting something else. There's a boom bap but it's watered down and served in a dirty glass where it looks like the bartender just loogied it: the track is a complicated attempt to land the helicopter in the middle of the club which is located in the basement of a seven-story building. I wanted to explain this rhythm, but I find myself having written two metaphors in a row, so I don't know how to explain it. The music doesn't sound good, PMD and Erick Sermon's rap is on full autopilot, no one is really putting effort into this thing, also because this rhythm seems to have the power to take away the skills from both artists and it's their creation so I don't know what to add.

The first few seconds of "Back to Work" made me smile: PMD himself is credited behind the keyboards for the third and final time (fourth counting the co-production of "Still a Costumer"). There's a terrible and unlistenable loop, strangled bass, weak drums, PMD drops bars without following the beat, he doesn't care about it and goes his way, and it's interesting because he created the rhythm. K-Solo (returning on a studio album after 11 years due to various problems) and Fat Joe don't save the track despite their efforts. Ground Work produces "All's I Need" putting in a good loop as a backdrop to the lyrics recited by Don Fu-Quan, the duo 275 and PMD. The boom bap is honest, but the song doesn't exactly stand out among the other tunes. The commercial hook is ridiculous.

Track Addicts wants to prove that he's not an improvised beatmaker like the others and makes a solid second beat for this Parrish Smith LP. "L.I. to L.E.S" has a sample you may have heard before. The drum is poor, the loop isn't exactly good, but somehow it works, Don Fu-Quan remained a guest, soon joined by Feever, Rah and the lead rapper. The sample is "Ship Ahoy" by The O'Jays, already used in Memphis (Juicy J, DJ Paul, Skinny Pimp; then also Lord Infamous) and in New York by G. Dep and, after the release of this album, from Cormega in "Tony/Montana" an easy winner in which the emcee is joined by Ghostface Killah. Finally, choice number eighteen, the final one, is "Buckwild" produced by Pete Rock. PMD goes solo again after over twenty minutes and you might not even have noticed. The production doesn't sound like Pete Rock, it doesn't matter. The bass is a bit there, confined, the drum is snappy, the samples don't sound good. For the hook Pete Rock uses samples from EPMD and Prodigy. Parrish delivers better than usual, but the beat doesn't support him as it should. The song is chosen as the lead single from PMD's third solo album with "Back to Work" as the b-side.

The album is published by Solid Records and distributed by Traffic. It conveys insecurity, little confidence by the author. Look at the cover. The only thing that got it right is the PMD logo in yellow at the top left and it seems that it's not enough because the boy feels obliged to also put his name at the bottom of the cover on the right. For the first time in his solo career, that is, since he separated from Erick Sermon, Smith gets beats worthy of being called such, with excellent samples. For reasons I don't know, the bass is a non-paying spectator in this match and the drum doesn't have enough good cards to make any statement, but the samples are there. Track Addicts does a nice job in production together with KutMasta Kurt, the works of DJ Honda and Muggs are taken from other records, while the other big names such as Alchemist, Erick Sermon and Pete Rock disappoint with second-rate choices.

PMD is awake, he's there, he seems to be there on this album after the sleepy performances of his previous solo releases and for the first half of the album he seems to nail the project, then after the first part, he practically leaves the scene making room for the guests and offering a showcase to his friends including Don Fu-Quan and the duo 275 who appear on four and three songs respectively. Among these guys, no one impresses, Fat Joe is easily among the best without too much effort together with B-Real, whose performance dates back five years earlier.

Lyrically there's little to analyze, Parrish Smith is representing and delivers a dozen battle raps where he's saying he's been in the game a long time and it's time he got the recognition he deserves as it should be, although his solo discography is questionable. In the end, the author ends up with about ten tracks and placing a few skits in the right place and catching some tracks already published but hidden here and there, he manages to add that quarter of an hour necessary to transform his effort into a complete album of over fifty minutes. Overall, the album isn't bad and is probably the best offering PMD has made in his career, even if it remains an unnecessary listen for fans. 6/10.